Introduction

The magnetic method is a very popular and inexpensive

approach for near-surface mineral exploration.

 A magnetic anomaly originates due to susceptibility

contrast between the ore body and the host rock in the
crustal rocks.

The shape of the anomaly depends not only upon the

shape and depth of the source object but also on its
orientation to the profile and to the inducing magnetic field.
 Principle of PPM
• Principle- The nucleus of the hydrogen
atom, a proton, has a magnetic moment
proportional to the angular momentum of
its spin.

• The sensor of the instrument consists of a

flask containing a proton-rich liquid.
Around which wound a magnetizing
solenoid and a detector coil.

• When the current in the magnetizing

solenoid is switched on, it creates a
magnetic field of the order of 10nT.

• Magnetizing field aligns the magnetic Operation principle of proton

moments of the protons along the axis of precession magnetometer

the solenoid.
• After the magnetizing field is interrupted, the magnetic moments of the
proton spins react to the couple exerted on them by the Earth’s magnetic
field detected by secondary coil as transient voltage build up and decay
over 3 second.

• The proton magnetic moments precession about the direction of the

ambient magnetic field. They do so at a rate known as the Larmor
precession frequency. The motion of the magnetic moments induces a
signal in the detector coil.

• The induced signal is amplified electronically and the precession frequency

is accurately measured by counting cycles for a few seconds. The strength
Bt of the measured magnetic field is directly proportional to the frequency
of the signal (ƒ), and is given by
Bt=2πf/γp
γp is the gyro magnetic ratio
 ABOUT G857
• The standard G-857 system is used as a mobile instrument for
measurement of the magnetic field intensity sequentially at
discrete locations.

• G-857 measure total magnetic field

 SENSOR ORIENTATION

• Two types of orientation

Vertical
surveying in regions when the
Earth’s field is inclined at greater than
±40°

Horizontal
surveying in regions when the Earth’s
field is inclined at less than ±40°
 MAGNETOMETER SET UP
• G-857 console (P/N 16601-34)
• Sensor (P/N 16076-01)
• Sensor signal cable (P/N 16134-01)
• Aluminum staff (four (4) mating sections) (P/N 16005-03)
• Console chest harness (P/N 25332-01)
• Two (2) rechargeable lead acid battery packs and charger (P/N 16697-02,
P/N 16699-04)
• G-857 Operator's Manual (on CD) (P/N 18103-02)
• Application Manual for Portable Magnetometers (on CD)
• MagMap2000 Software and Manual (on CD)
• RS232 Data Output Cable (P/N 16492-01)
• USB/RS232 Serial Convertor (P/N 20-000-071)
 Console Controls and Display
• The console is controlled from a 12-key keypad located on its top surface and shares this space
with the LED display and sensor connector.

• RECALL - Accesses the console memory. Also decrements memory location displayed.

• AUTO-RECALL - Displays and/or sets the current year.

• STORE - Stores measurement in memory.

• AUTO-TIME-STORE - Synchronizes the G857 clock to Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) from
the GPS if the GPS is present and enabled.

• READ - Makes a measurement of the magnetic field.

• FIELD - Used during memory recall to recover the field reading after TIME has been
depressed.
PROGRAMMABLE SWITCH SETTING
 OPERATING PROCEDURE
• Clearing a Key sequence
• Setting the internal clock
• Setting the Year
• Setting the Line Number Marker
• Setting GPS Recording Mode
• Manual Tuning of the Magnetometer
• Automatic tuning
• Acquiring and storing a magnetic field reading
• Recalling measurements from memory
• Erasing magnetometer readings
• Automatic reading set-up
• Retrieving magnetic field readings
 GRADIOMETER AND BASE STATION OPERATION
• Gradiometer measurement- The typical sensor
separation between the two staff sections will be
4 ft. - comprising two staff sections. In this
configuration the top sensor will be 8 ft. above
grade and the lower 4 ft. above grade. Help to
reduce their residual magnetic influence on the
gradient measurement.
• It is possible to measure either the vertical or
horizontal gradient using two ppm devices
separated by fixed distance. This may be done on
land with an instrument carried by hand, or from
a helicopter or ship.
• Advantages
• Diurnal variation corrections are not necessary.
• Shallow sources with steep gradients are
accentuated compared with deep sources with
slight gradients.
•Base station measurement-The base station should be placed away from
buildings, traffic, and power lines to provide the best results. Base station setup
using Geometrics tripod. The effects of the diurnal variation of the Earth’s
magnetic field can be removed from survey measurements if measurements
were made during the survey with a base-station magnetometer.

SQUID System
•SQUID stands form Superconducting Quantum Interference Device. It has a high
sensitivity, and is used to measure both the magnitude and direction of the
Earth’s field. It has a sensitivity of 10
•The response is flat at all frequencies, and thus it can measure a changing
magnetic field also, from DC to several 1000 Hz.
•This instrument operates at liquid helium temperatures. It is physically large and
thus not very portable. Some uses include magneto telluric measurements,
measurements of drift of the Earth’s field and laboratory measurements for
remnant and induce magnetization of rock samples.

•
Importance of magnetic data reduction

Magnetic field of the earth varies continuously in a

day as well as in long term due to internal and external
factors.

Variations arising due to ionospheric activity i.e the

diurnal variations and the normal field which is
originating due to convection of conductive liquid core .

Data should be well prepared and reduced for all the

correction before processing to get the magnetic
anomaly.
Magnetic Data Reduction Techniques

 Diurnal correction

 Base Correction

 International Geo-magnetic Reference Field (IGRF)

Correction
Diurnal corrections to magnetic surveys—an assessment of errors. ...
Diurnal correction Variation of earth's magnetic field with time, due to the
rotation of the earth and with respect to the solar wind, which may last for
several hours to one day, is called diurnal variation .
The comparison of a group of continuous total field stations with the record
of the total field Observatory enables the errors which would be involved in
using the Observatory as a diurnal correction base to be examined. For the
most part, for a single correction, these errors lie between ± 2 and ± 6
gammas. However, they have three notable characteristics:
(i) they are not closely dependent on the magnetic ‘noisiness’ of the day,
(ii) they are only marginally reduced by the application of station-base time
differences and
(iii), they are strongly related to differences between the amplitude of the
daily magnetic variation at the station and at the base.
A permanent geographical basis for the latter differences enables
a system for the estimation of the errors to be proposed.
Diurnal Correction
The diurnal correction accounts for the temporal variation
of the earth’s external magnetic field.

This variation can be on the order of 20 to 30 nT per day

and should be accounted for when conducting exploration
magnetic surveys.

Corrected by occupying the base repeatedly in course of

the magnetic survey

Diurnal correction (DC) factor is defined as

D.F = diff b/w initial value & final value/Total time.

D.C = Avg + (time diff* DF)
 Date:
06/03/2016

Diurnal variation of magnetic field in a day

Base correction

 Base correction is required to get the accurate base

value of a particular day.

 Base correction has been done by using average of

all morning base values of total survey duration

Deviation observed between average base value and

base values of each day is added or subtracted from all
magnetic stations reading.
IGRF Correction
Earth’s magnetic field varies with latitude and longitude
and is represented by International Geomagnetic
Reference Field (IGRF).

The IGRF defines the theoretical undisturbed magnetic

field at any point on the earth’s surface.

In order to obtain the magnetic anomaly caused by

crustal sources, the regional component of the earth’s
magnetic field represented by IGRF is subtracted from the
observed field value
 n 1

g 
n  mn
R
W  R   m
n cos m  hnm sin m Pnm  cos 
n 1 m  0  r 

Where W= Magnetic field

R= Earth’s radius

Pnm  cos  are called Schmidth polynomials.

The constants  gn  ,  hn  in the geomagnetic potential are called
m m

Gauss coefficients of order n and m.

R= Spherical harmonic function

 In regional studies, the corrections for latitude and
longitude are inherent in the reference field that is
subtracted.

 The latitude correction is zero at the magnetic pole and

magnetic equator and reaches a maximum value of about 5nT
per kilometer at intermediate latitudes.

 Insignificant in small-scale survey

 At the magnetic equator, the elevation correction is about

0.015nT per metre and near the magnetic poles it is 0.03nT
per metre. The correction is so small that it is often ignored.
Conclusions
 Magnetic data reduction is essential for both
regional and detailed magnetic survey.

 Diurnal variation, Base correction and IGRF

correction are equally important and must be done
before processing.

IGRF value must be updated in every 5 years.

References

 Kearey P. Brooks M. and Hill I. 2002. An introduction to

geophysical exploration, 2nd edition,
Blackwell Publishing Company, USA.

Lowrie, W., 2007, Fundamentals of Geophysics (2nd ed),

Cambridge University Press, p.281-360.

 Telford, W.M.; Geldart, L.P.; Sheriff, R.E., 1990, Applied

Geophysics (2nd ed), Cambridge University Press, p.6-134.
 Fluxgate Magnetometer
• This device was originally developed during World war II as a
submarine detector. Several designs have been used for
recording diurnal variations in the Earth’s field aeromagnetic
work because it makes continuous measurements and as
portable ground magnetometer.
• The fluxgate detector consists essentially of a core of magnetic
material, such as mu-metal, or ferrite, that has a very high
permeability at low magnetic fields.
• In the most common design, two cores are each wound with
primary and secondary coils, the two assemblies being as nearly
as possible identical parallel so that the windings are in
opposition.
• The two primary windings are connected in series
and by a low frequency (50 to 1000Hz) current
produced by a constant current source.
• The maximum current is sufficient to magnetize the
cores to saturation, in opposite polarity twice each
cycle .
• The secondary coils, which consist of many turns of
fine wire, are connected to a differential amplifier,
Whose output is proportional to the difference
between two input signals.
• The effect of saturation in the fluxgate element s
should be long and thin to reduce the eddy currents.
• Improvement introduced to increase the signal –to-noise
ratio include.
• By the unbalancing the two elements, voltage spikes are
present with or without an ambient field .The presence
of the Earth’s field increases the voltage of one polarity
more than the other and this difference is amplified.
• Because the add harmonics are canceled fairly well in a
reasonably matched set of cores, the even harmonics
( Generally only the second is significant) are amplified to
appear as positive or negative signals, depending on the
polarity of the earth’s field.
• Most of ambient field is canceled and variations in the
reminder are detected with an extra secondary winding.
• Negative feedback of the amplifier output is
used to reduce the effect of the earth’s field.
• By tuning the output of the secondary windings
with a capacitance, the second harmonic is
greatly increased; a phase – sensitive detector,
rather than the difference amplifier, may be
used with this arrangement.
• There are several fundamental sources of error
in the fluxgate instrument. These include
inherent unbalance in the two cores , thermal
and shock noise in cores,
• The fluxgate magnetometer sensitivity is 1 nT.
• Disadvantages:
• Minor, however, compared to the obvious.
• Advantages:
• Direct Readout, no azimuth orientation, rather
coarse leveling requirements, light weight(2 to
3 kg), small size ,reasonable sensitivity.
Optical Pump (or Alkali vapour ) Magnetometer
• It is used if sub-γ sensitivity is needed, e.g., for sedimentary
targets and for measuring magnetic gradients directly. It consists
of a cell of helium ,cesium, rubidium of some alkali- metal vapour
which is excited by light from a source of the same material.
• The energy states of the electrons of the alkali metal atoms are
affected by magnetic field.
• In the presence of the light, the depopulation of energy states by
light absorption and movement to higher states will be unequal.
• The repopulation to lower states by emission of energy will be
equal for all states and thus unequal populations in the various
energy states result .
• This is the optically-pumped state and the gas is more transparent
like. This transparency is measured, and gives a precision of
0.005γ in the measurement of the strength of the earth’s field.
 MAGNETIC SURVEYS
• Land Surveys
• These are usually done with portable precession
magnetometers.
• Profiles or networks of points are measured in the
same way as for gravity.
• It is important to survey perpendicular to the strike of
and elongate body or 2D modeling may be very difficult.
• It is necessary to tie back to the base station at 2-3 hrs
intervals , or to set up a continually-reading base
magnetometer.
• This will give diurnal drift and detect magnetic storms.
• The operator must:
• The operator must:
• Record the time at which readings where taken
for diurnal correction.
• Stay away for interfering objects for example.,
wire fences, railway lines ,roads.
• Not carry metal objects, e.g., mobile phones
and take multiple readings at each station to
check for repeatability.
• Reduction of the observations is much simpler
than for gravity:
 Air surveys
• Most magnetic surveying is aeromagnetic surveying, and it may
be done with either aero plane or helicopter.
• Helicopters are more suitable for detailed or difficult access
areas, through aero planes are cheaper.
• Usually, a proton magnetometer is then called the bird. It may
also be mounted as a tail stinger on planes because of problems
with sensor motion and cable vibrations that result from higher
speeds.
• The layout of the survey depends on target scale and anomaly
strike. Usually a criss-cross pattern of perpendicular flight paths
is adopted.
• The lines perpendicular to strike are more closely spaced, and
the tie lines at right angles to these may be typically at ¼ or 1/10
density.
• The flight height is typically 200 to 1000s of feet,
and should remain as constant as possible.
• For oil reconnaissance, the most interesting
feature is generally deep basement structure. In
this case, high surveys are flown, typically above
1000 ft, to effectively filter out the signals from
small, shallow bodies.
• Diurnal drift and other errors, e.g., variable flying
height can be averaged out by minimizing the RMS
of the line crossover measurement differences, or
fitting a high-order polynomial to each line and
eliminating the differences completely.
 Sea survey
• The instrument is towed behind the ship at a distance of up to 500 m to avoid
the magnetic effect of ship.
• It is then known as the fish. The instrument is made buoyant and a proton
magnetometer is usually used.
• The sampling frequency is typically 4-20s, giving measurements spaced at
intervals of 8-16m if the ship speed is 4-6 knots. GPS navigation is almost
universally used. Loran navigation was most common in the past.
• Sea magnetic surveys are generally conducted at the same time as a seismic
survey.
• The ship’s course is optimized for the seismic survey and it is thus usually
non-optimal for the magnetic survey.
• There may also be problems making the diurnal correction if the ships is
more than 100km from land.
• Under these circumstance, the diurnal correction may have to be done by tie-
line analysis.
• Recently, the longitudinal gradient is frequently measured and used, and has
caused great improvement in the usefulness of marine magnetic data for oil
exploration.
 Corrections
The Diurnal Correction:
This may be up to 100γ. Observatory data may
be used if the observatory is within about 100km
and no major magnetic bodies occur in between,
which might cause phases/shifts in the temporal
magnetic variations. A magnetic storm render the
data useless.